A rchive Date
[ 26-01-2019 ]
Category
[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ Canada ]
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[https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/mccallum-out-ambassador-1.4994492
John McCallum fired as ambassador to China amid diplomatic crisis
McCallum forced to walk back remarks he made regarding Meng Wanzhou's extradition
Catharine Tunney · CBC News · Posted: Jan 26, 2019 2:45 PM ET | Last Updated: an hour ago
John McCallum has been fired as Canada's ambassador to China.
"Last night I asked for and accepted John McCallum's resignation as Canada's Ambassador to China," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a statement Saturday. A spokesperson for the prime minister confirmed Trudeau delivered the news to McCallum himself.
The statement didn't offer a reason for the removal, which comes in the middle of a diplomatic crisis with China. It caps off an especially tough week for McCallum after he controversially waded into the extradition request against Meng Wanzhou, an executive with Chinese telecom company Huawei.
On Tuesday McCallum, a longtime Liberal, was quoted telling a gathering of Chinese-language journalists in Toronto that he thought she had a strong case to fight extradition to the U.S. and listed several arguments he thought could help her with her case. On Thursday, he said he misspoke with those statements.
Then, just the next day, he told a StarMetro Vancouver reporter it would be "great for Canada" if the United States dropped their extradition request against the Huawei executive.
He also said if the U.S. and China make a deal on Meng's case, it should include the release of the two Canadian men detained in China. "We have to make sure that if the U.S. does such a deal, it also includes the release of our two people. And the U.S. is highly aware of that," McCallum told the Star.
Former ambassador to China Guy Saint-Jacques said he believes it was the latest round of comments that prompted his firing. "Unfortunately I think the prime minister had no choice but to ask for the resignation of Mr. McCallum," he said. "He should have shown a bit more restraint, in my view."
The firing appears to put the government's China policy in disarray just days before the U.S. makes a final decision on extraditing Meng and comes at a time that Canada faces difficulties in its relationships with Russia, India, Saudi Arabia and China. These days its historical ally in the White House is often at odds with Canadian foreign policy.
Weakness on this file: Scheer
The decision came too late for Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer who had called on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to fire McCallum earlier in the week, following his first set of comments. At the time Trudeau brushed off the call, saying his government's focus is on getting detained Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor released from China and recalling McCallum wouldn't achieve that.
"This decision should have been made days ago. Instead [Trudeau has] shown weakness on this file and damaged Canada's reputation and our ability to handle this very important issue where Canadians' treatment in China is being affected by this," Scheer told reporters Saturday.
The NDP's foreign affairs critic, Hélène Laverdière, said McCallum's inappropriate statements could complicate the file. "This chaos has not helped Canadians abroad and has caused confusion everywhere," she said in a statement.
"In addition, we remain concerned about President Trump's statements that he would use this extradition as a bargaining chip in his trade negotiations. We believe that the legal process must follow its course without interference from anyone."
 World Fact Book (CIA]
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